Arkham: Undead
by ClockworkCaptain
Summary: Gotham City is a cursed place where the damned are it's savors and Batman must walk the narrow line between sanity and madness and try his best to keep his ever growing family safe. Bat-family, Supernatural, Nightwing-Dick Grayson, Red Hood-Jason Todd, Robin-Tim Drake
1. Chapter 1

Arkham: Undead

~Chapter 1~

~Buried Alive~

The bat-mobile tares down the road to Arkham Asylum like that one Meat Loaf song; inside batman's mouth was a thin line under a jet-black cowl. Next to him, dosing and sporting a few new burses, was the Mad Hatter. Over the car's speakers came Nightwing's cheery voice.

 _~OH! You're going to the Asylum? Can I come? I haven't seen the place in years. Actually I haven't seen any place in years. Please? Or maybe we could go out patrolling like old times? You know before the other robins just the two of us? It would be fun!~_

Batman shook his head. "That's a negative Nightwing, the night is still young in need you there just incase I need anything from bat arsenal."

 _~Bullshit Batman! You could totally have Robin doing this job! Or Alfred, or Oracle, or an A.I., or that bat, he says hi by the way wants you to visit more. ~_

"This discussion is over Nightwing! I need you there!"

There was silence over the radio for a moment. _~Fine.~_

The car skidded to a stop in front of the Asylum's entrance and Batman got out dragging Jarvis with him. He handed him off to a guard who quickly put Jarvis in restraints and led him away. Gordon was standing by the desk talking to one of the doctors. He looked over at Batman and gestured to him.

"Walk with me, you're wanted in the manor by Quincy Sharp."

"Why?"

"No idea but he seemed pretty insistent that you see him. I think it might be about the Joker."

"Fine Jim, let's go."

They walked deeper into the Asylum finally coming to an open space where a large manor sat. A small graveyard next to it housing the family plot of the original founder: Amadeus Arkham. Batman paused outside the manor looking at the relatively new patio and stairs into the building. His mind drifted back across the years when some thugs had taken over the asylum and had blasted away the original structure.

.o.

Batman narrowed his eyes looking at the four thugs below him and tried to understand why they had bothered to blast that part of the manor. He turned on his detective vision and his heart suddenly doubled in speed. There under the earth was a box with a small skeleton; his sensors told him that there was a heartbeat coming from the box. It was vary faint but it was there.

Quickly, Batman swooped down, tackling one of the thugs before he could react. He finished the others just as quickly. Without even thinking he used one of the thug's shovels and cleared off the small coffin and broke through the rotting wood. Some of the Arkham staff were running to take the thugs away as he pulled a boy from the box. He was small but looked to be about thirteen years old. Batman checked the boy's pulse. It was there but only just. Batman tapped his com.

"Alfred, I need you to check the missing person's data base for any missing teenagers."

 _~Right away Sir; any distinguishing feature I should include in my search?~_

"You're looking for a white male, with black hair," The boy started to wake showing the bluest eyes Bruce had ever seen "and blue eyes."

 _~Yes, sir I'll get back to you when I've got something.~_

Batman set the boy down on the stairs. The boy shivered, he was painfully thin and his clothes were practically in ribbons. Batman pulled off his cape and offered it to him, which he took. Batman kneeled to be eye level with him. "Can you speak?"

The boy nodded, "Yes, I speak." His voice was hallow and he looked around in a daze. "Where, where am I?"

"Arkham Asylum. Now can you tell me your name?"

The boy was silent for a moment. "I think my name's Richard but I can't remember anything more. My-my life it's all in a haze."

"Ok, don't try to think to hard you might be in shock. Mind if I sit next to you."

"Oh please, strange man dressed as a bat." The boy scooted over. "By all means."

Batman sat down. "Do you know who those men are over there? Or why they were trying to bury you alive?"

Richard shook his head. "No, I don't remember them at all." Suddenly the boy was transfixed on one of the lampposts. "What is that? And how is it glowing like that?"

Batman frowned clearly this boy's mind had been damage by the recent events. "It's a light bulb."

"Oh, I guess it is." Richard chuckled. "Forgive me I don't seem to be myself right now."

"You're forgiven. You've been through a lot."

Their conversation was suddenly cut short by the sound of Jokers laughter and an ak47 being shot off.

.o.

"You coming?"

Batman looked up at Jim who was standing at the entrance. "Yes, sorry. Just remembering things."

"You're thinking about the kid they tried to bury alive years ago aren't you? You know it's not your fault; he was so weak when you pulled him from the ground. You did your best."

"I know Jim."

"It still haunts you though, doesn't it?"

"More than you know."

They walked into Sharp's office where a rather rotund man sat behind a desk.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, we excavated the lower levels of the manor recently and we came upon these items." He pointed to a box on his desk. "A number of years ago you asked for anything pertaining to the history of the Asylum pre Amadeus Arkham and this might be just what you're looking for."

"And you're just going to let me take this?"

Sharp shrugged. "If I don't you'll just take it later. Return them when you're done and don't destroy them. They are artifacts after all."

Batman took the box. "Don't worry I won't." Without another word Batman left the room and the Asylum with the box.

.o.

Joker's bullet hit Richard square in the chest and the boy fell back. Batman caught him before he could crack his head on the concrete. Asylum staff where able to grab Joker while Batman attended to Richard. He was losing blood fast and in Batman's desperation to save the boy he took him to the batcave without thinking of the implications. The last time Joker had broken out he had poisoned a whole Boy Scout troupe and he would be damned if he added another to Joker's list.

A/N: yeah, trying my hand at a different fandom. I love the Arkham games with Asylum being my favorite over all. This will be more of an else worlds type of story that will definitely mess with canon characters' back-story and abilities. If you don't like that kind of stuff don't read. This will lean heavy on the classic horror side.


	2. Chapter 2

~Chapter 2~

~The immortal child~

Batman walked in to the cave and placed the box on the table. He sighed and looked around. He had decided to drive to the auxiliary cave instead of the main one. Something in his gut told him that the main cave was not the best place for these items.

"Dick? Are you here?"

"I'm always here Bruce…I never get to leave; not anymore." Blue eyes peered from the darkness. "Why are you here? You rarely come to visit."

"I have some things you might want to see."

"Oh? That's interesting."

.o. Past .o.

Batman looked down at the limp body before him. He had failed; failed so horribly he just couldn't face it. Pulling the sheet over the boy's face he walked away to go tell Commissioner Gordon the bad news. The car ride was quick and soon the two were standing on top of the police station.

Jim nodded sadly looked down at the city. "It's a real shame. Any idea who it is?"

Batman shook his head. "Not yet, I'm looking now. I'll let you know."

"Ok, I've got some of the goons in custody asking why they were trying to bury him in the first place. So far they're all playing dumb saying they just were digging didn't even know the kid was there."

"Interesting." Batman frowned. "I think if it hasn't been cleaned up I'll check out where we found him; might be some clues."

"I hope you're-" Gordon looked around and found himself alone. "Right."

.o.

Batman was halfway to the asylum when Alfred called.

~Uh, master Bruce.~

"Yes, Alfred?"

~You might want to come home, immediately. It's the boy.~

"Alfred, I know he's dead, I couldn't save him. I failed. I'm trying to find his next of kin now."

~No, that's not the problem master Bruce, the problem is he's not dead and is very scared and is asking for you.~

Batman slammed on the brakes hard enough to almost stand the Batmobile on its nose. "What?"

~Just what I said sir, the boy he's alive, and is asking for you…. he also seems to quiet enjoy chocolate milk. Please get home soon sir; we're running out of milk.~

.o. Present .o.

Dick walked out of the shadows in his usual calm collected demeanor and eyed the box. "And here I thought Christmas was next month. What's in the box?"

Bruce pulled his cowl off. "Artifacts from Arkham Asylum; I was wondering if you recognized anything."

"Do you really think any of this would make me remember?" Dick looked up at Bruce; his young face unchanged from the day Bruce had found him in the rotting coffin. He opened the box and pulled out a silver bell. "And that I want to remember." He pulled out a book and there was recognition in his eyes. "Mother kept a diary that looked a lot like this…she used to draw pictures on some of the pages." Dick suddenly shook his head and put the book down. "This is a bunch of junk. Doesn't mean anything!"

He quickly disappeared into the darkness leaving Bruce with his thoughts. He picked up the book and opened it to a random page with an illustration on one page. It was of a boy lying in a coffin arms crossed. He read the passage on the opposite page.

 _Today I buried my youngest son. The sickness took him so fast we couldn't even call for the doctor. I am heart broken that I must bid goodbye to my dear Richard. I take comfort that he is now in the arms of the lord just like all those others taken by the sickness. Gareth had us burry my child where the front steps of our home will be. There have been grave robbings as of late and he does not want our son to be a victim twice. I miss him so much; my heart aches just thinking of my poor suffering in his last moments._

Bruce looked out into the darkness. "You're mother mourned you."

Dick materialized next to the batcomputer. "If they mourned me why was I under those stairs?"

"To keep grave robbers from taking your body. They felt you would be at peace there. They didn't know-"

"Of course they didn't know." Dick scoffed showing off his sharp teeth. "If they had I would have been impaled or burned or something."

"Your mom mentions something called the 'sickness' does that mean anything to you?"

Dick looked away.

"It does doesn't it? You're remembering things aren't you? Richard Gary Arkham if you remember something, you need to tell me!"

Dick raised any eyebrow. "Do I?"

.o. Past .o.

Batman ran into the medical bay to find the boy sitting on the table drinking a cup of chocolate milk. There were cups littered around him and Alfred was standing a yard or so off. The older man's face lit up when he saw Bruce. "Thank goodness you're here Master Bruce, this child… Well I can't explain it really; just came down and he was sitting crying and the bullet hole was gone!"

Batman looked over the child in shock. "It is gone." He paused. "Why is he drinking chocolate milk? And why does it seem he's had a lot of it?"

"Because the young boy had had about ten glasses of the stuff and doesn't seem all that found to solid foods sir…or water for that matter."

The boy looked up at Batman and smiled showing off elongated canine teeth. "This is good! But I'm still thirsty."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The sickness

Bruce looked over at Dick who had gone back to staring at the computer screen. "You used to be more helpful."

Dick pouted. "You used to let me out and have free range of the manor and go out with you on patrol. You need me out there! Don't you think after what happened to-"

"Stop it Richard! You can't leave here! Not now, not ever! That's an order!"

The defiant look in Dick's eyes faded and he looked down. "Yes, sir. Understood sir."

Bruce internally kicked himself. Of course Dick wanted to be free and interact with the world beyond a computer screen but it was just too dangerous. Bruce hated giving orders like that because Dick would never, could never violate them. The moment those blue eyes saw Bruce, was the moment Richard's freewill was null and void in regards to him. "Look, Dick I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. I just think it's too dangerous for you to be out there."

Dick wasn't looking at him at all. "So say you. So what do you want to know about that junk you brought?"

Bruce sighed. "I want to know if it belongs to you, if you have any clues about the sickness and how it started before-"

"Before it 'wiped out' half of Gotham all those years before." Dick turned back to the stuff. "I'll analyze it and get back to you….you sure you don't want me to join you tonight? Even just to stay in the car."

Bruce nodded. "I'm sure, but if I need you I'll send the order."

Dick seemed to brighten a bit. "Ok."

.o. Past .o.

"You fools!" Joker hit one of his minions across the face before sitting down at his desk to glower at them. "You can't even complete a simple little task without letting the bat muck it up can you!? Dig a hole bring me the box! That simple! Still failure."

"But boss he just showed up and there was a kid in there."

"Exactly! That's what I wanted! And you let Batman get him."

"The kid?"

Joker slowly blinked. "Yes. The kid. That kid. The key to me bringing this whole city down to its knees! You see that kid is very special."

"But you shot him." One of the minions pointed out.

BAM! The minion dropped to the floor a small hold in the middle of his head. "And now I've shot you, but unlike you that kid will but up and about in no time. Probably begging to polish batman's cowl or something." He looked at his remaining staff. "You're probably wondering how that's possible aren't you?" They all nodded. "Well it's simple, the kid's a monster and was until he saw batman's mug an unclaimed one." He held up a beat up looking book. "Now I've got to find another unspoiled one or rather Benny does." He looked down at the dead minion. "Oh that was Benny, welp Jerry? You here?"

"Here." Jerry held up his hand and caught the book.

"Look through that book, find names in there that are not listed here." Joker threw another less beat up looking book. "and when you're done find out where those listed people are buried." He smiled. "Batman's new friend is going to need a playmate."

.o.

Bruce scanned Richard for the seventh time and shook his head. Still nothing on how he survived the gun shot and why he was drinking so much milk. Alfred had run to the store and practically bout the store out on all verity of milk…. leaving out the soy of course. Richard kept looking around asking about various things. He was also extremely helpful and rarely left his side. It was unnerving.

The first real clue Bruce got was when morning finally came. Richard had fallen asleep and Bruce decided to carry him up to the manor and into a room. Richard already knew who he was anyway so why try to hide it? On a similar note, he didn't seem all that impressed by knowing his name though did seem to know his last name and asked if he lived on a farm.

Bruce walked past a window and immediately recoiled into the shadows. The boy's skin had immediately burned and blistered in the seconds of exposure. He took Richard, who was still asleep, back to the cave and tended to the arm. Not knowing what else to do he and Alfred carried a bad down for Richard to sleep in. Against Alfred's wishes Bruce stayed up to research more. He fell asleep at the keyboard.

.o. Present .o.

Bruce left Dick and started to drive back to the other cave when the car suddenly hit something and veered off the road into a ditch. Someone cut the roof off with a saw and a dazed batman was dragged out into the street. Two big men held him up as what he hit walked towards them.

Harley Quinn smiled her sharp white teeth glimmered in the moonlight. "Hi yah Bats! Can Ricky come out to play tonight?" She rested her over sized hammer across her shoulders. She looked to be about seventeen but both of them new she was so much older. "It's a full moon and I'd really like to see an old face."


End file.
